I’ll be here all week, folks, make sure to tip your waiter. Photo of Elvis’s Messerschmitt was taken in 1956 for Look magazine and posted earlier today on Shorpy. So was Elvis’s Messerschmitt painted pink? Will we see every other Messerschmitt advertised as Elvis’s now? And is any of the Elvis sweat in vials from him cooking in the ‘Schmitt’s bubble?

7 Responses to “The king in a bubble, or, King ‘Schmitt”

Meserschmitt’s were not always cool in the collector car world. Elvis must have been a visionary to own one when they were new. Today Messerschmitt’s and other Microcars are in demand and their ownres requested to display them at automotive events of all kinds.
As a Messerschmitt owner I find this pleasing and enjoy exposing my cars to the automotive public.

The man observing is Dan Shackleford, from Tupelo, Ms., who was visiting the family. As was his custom, Elvis gave this car away to his manager Colonel Tom Parker–who did not keep it. Any guesses as to the make and model of the motorcycle behind the Messerschmit? Probably a Harley, but maybe also a Triumpth.

……an emaciated Colonel Tom Parker, always a fan, pretends not to notice, as the king, distracted by fiddling with the Blaupunkt, runs over his foot…..The Colonel was previously injured in a foolish incident on the California Highway Patrol motorcycle in the background ( a gift from the Force), luckily parked a few feet outside Elvis’ wildly underestimated turning cicle.

In August of 1957 Elvis traded his Messerschmitt to Bernard Lansky, who owned the clothing store where Presley bought the clothes he used on stage early in his career and where he got his personal clothes throughout his life. Lansky liked the car and kept bugging Presley about it. Perhaps Elvis was tired of the little car after a year, but in any case they came to an agreement. The clothier got the little three wheeler and Elvis got his pick of the store for a couple of hours. Lansky was interviewed in the 2009 movie “200 Cadillacs” about Elvis’ cars. He died last November and as far as I know the family still owns the Messerschmitt.

Audio of Elvis talking about the car and the barter deal with Lansky, along a clip of Lansky in that movie here:

Thanks Ronnie for the story on the vehicle. And, I am guessing that motorcycle is the ’57 Harley that can be seen in the car museum across the street from Graceland in Memphis.

Also, one thing that is true of both Colonel Parker, and Elvis’s father Vernon, is that they were pack-rats, which is why there is an amazing amount of documentation for practically everything associated with Elvis’s career and personal life. Would be willing to wager that most autmobiles that actually belonged to Elvis at one time or another, can pretty much be documented beyond a shadow of a doubt, with few exceptions…